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Winemaker's Notes

Our second vintage of viognier again exhibits classic coolclimate
characteristics, but is not a typical California viognier.
It has a vibrant floral nose, and an elegant note of fresh white
almond. With intense fruit flavors of peach, apricot and pear,
it has a musky quality to it, and a round body. A tight mineral
structure and higher level of acid balance it nicely. I like this
wine with a spicy chicken salad or lobster bisque.

Tangent Winery

Welcome to tangent, where pure flavor and alternative varietals intersect.
And that’s not just an intriguing marketing phrase. Well, it is, but we really mean it. We start with grapes of intense varietal character, grown in the cool, temperate Edna Valley. Winemaker Christian Roguenant works his magic, and we ultimately bottle fresh, crisp and vibrant white wines. No Chardonnay in sight. Not that we don’t love Chardonnay; we do. An option is always welcome however, especially when it comes to eating. Most food seems to cry out for clean, lively wines with good acid structure. So we set out to find these wines, and realized there are few here in the States. We also found that no California winery was purely focused on alternative whites. And as our family has given us the incredible opportunity to create and manage new projects, we realized we really had something here. Something we could build for now, and for generations in the future. With our access to some of the best cool-climate vineyards – which is where most of these varietals thrive – we thought we’d be nuts not to give it a shot. Whether we’re nuts or not is a matter of personal opinion. But we do believe that tangent wines exemplify true varietal character and there is place for them on any table. We hope you give them a try and let us know what you think.
View all Tangent Wines

About North Coast

Beyond Napa and Sonoma in the north you find a couple of other counties producing great wine. Among these are Mendocino and Lake County. The northernmost California winegrowing regions, these two counties are right above Napa and Sonoma, geographically. Yet, wine-wise they are very different – both from their southern neighbors and from each other.

Notable Facts

Mendocino has a high amount of organic vintners and vines. The first winery to settle here was Fetzer, which practices organic viticulture and holds some of the most vineyard land in the area. Mendocino has many pockets of micro-climates while Lake County, being smaller in size, is less diverse climactically. As for the grapes, Chardonnay is the most popular in both counties, but there are also some excellent Sauvignon Blancs, particularly in the Lake County. In red wine, Zinfandel leads the way, followed by Rhone Blends and Petite Sirah. The reds in both counties are complex and sumptuous. Anderson Valley is a sub-AVA of Mendicino and is quite well known for its excellent cool climate, producing the delicious Roederer Estate sparkling wines and some wonderful cool-climate Syrah.

About California

It's not rare to see a wine's country of origin listed as "California." A country into itself in the wine world, California makes enough varieties and styles to match many European wine countries. It produces a diverse range of wines that span the quality spectrum.

The most famous of the California wine regions is Napa Valley, and these wines are certainly outstanding – but it's not as broad and diverse as its larger neighbor, Sonoma County. Down south, Santa Barbara's Santa Maria Valley is well-known for its Rhône blends, as well as cool-climate varieties like Pinot and Chardonnay. The Central Coast, the largest California AVA, has many different microclimates that lead to a wide range of wines with many sub-AVAs.

Alcohol By Volume Guide

Most wine ranges from 10-16% alcohol by volume. Some varietals tend to have higher (for example Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon) or lower alcohol levels (Pinot Noir and many white varietals), but there is always some variation from producer to producer. Some wine falls outside of this range, for instance Port weighs in closer to 20%, while Muscat and Riesling are usually a bit below 10%.

Wine Style Guide

Light & Crisp

Light to medium bodied wines that are high in acid and light to medium fruit. Typically no oak.